Payson, Diamond Point Should Work Together

In response to Chuck Heron's rambling tirade of misinformation, groundless charges and almost humorous threat to "clean up Payson's Town Government" I have the following response:

You are right, Mr. Heron, you don't vote in Payson. But if you really want to clean up government, you already have a reform project in front of you by the name of Gila County.

The Diamond Star "Not In My Back Yard" Coalition members really need to take off the blinders they seem to be wearing. It might also be wise to lose the relationship with the Citizens Awareness Committee. You referred to them as "hundreds of citizens of the Town of Payson who have come forward in support." The CAC represents less than 1 percent of Payson citizens and has clearly been exposed as an anti-growth group. The only reason they came to your support is to meet their "no growth" agenda by not allowing the Town to find water.

Your group actually should be encouraging and partnering with the Town of Payson to find new water in the Mayfield Canyon area. The stark reality is Diamond Point residents are sitting on a time bomb of shallow wells and too many septic tanks that are too close to each other. As the area in-fills, it's just a matter of time before your wells become contaminated. In the not-too-distant future, you and your neighbors will be hauling your water and dealing with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Neither is fun, by the way.

Working in concert with the Town of Payson now and preparing for a central piped water supply system from that same potential water in Mayfield Canyon makes a ton of sense. Whether you form your own water utility via an improvement district or negotiate with the town for your water service would be up to the majority of residents.

Payson and Diamond Point both are facing water challenges in the future. Wouldn't it be a novel approach to work together to solve them?